Searching for some good liberal literature...

[Perfect Ten]

Looking for some suggestions for books that really embody the liberal spirit. I guess specifically I'm looking for a book that talks about democratic liberal ideas and why it's the best school of thought. Hope you guys can help!!!

[BoneDaddy]

1. Anything by Noam Chomsky

start there.
http://www.chomsky.info/

[jaxx]

3. He isn't a liberal.

Since the 1960s, he has become known more widely as a political dissident and an anarchist,<8> referring to himself as a libertarian socialist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky

[leveymg]

5. His isn't literature, either.

As valuable as his essays are, it's more technical writing.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. anything by Sam Clemens or his alter ego, Mark Twain

A liberal curmudgeon who wrote about women's rights, minorities as humans, and capitalism as a threat to humanity.

This isn't literature, but it is brilliant and eye opening - People's History of the United States and Howard Zinn. You will never look at Columbus day the same way ever again.

[Perfect Ten]

8. You're right...

I learned that just from reading Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer

[ChairmanAgnostic]

23. some object to his use of the term "nigger"

but Twain managed to humanize blacks, treat them as individuals, and describe the terrible conditions that too many people, even after the war between the states, suffered. I've been reading his auto-semi-biography since it first came out, a bit here, a bit there. As a humorist and satirist (not satyrist), and an observer of the human condition, I don't think there's been anyone quite like him. He was both deep and humorous, often both at the same time. He certainly is on par with Ben Franklin, another hero of mine.

[leveymg]

4. John Steinbeck, Sinclair Lewis, John Dos Passos.

That the classical American Left pantheon from the Depression era. Norman Mailer is the post-war American liberal novelist. Also, add more recent historical fiction by Gore Vidal, Phillip K. Dick for SF. Four contemporary left-wing American writers: Ben Traven, William Herrick, Edward Dahlberg, Howard Fast.

[Baikonour]

6. The Conscience of a Liberal

By Paul Krugman

[Brickbat]

16. "The Conscience of a Liberal" by Paul Wellstone.

[Scruffy1]

7. It really depends on where your at

Some that come to mind as an aid to understanding why we are where we are Mike Lux's "The Progressive Revolution" which gives and excellent overview of progress made in America. It is an easy read and I think should be required reading for all those interested in democracy. Jim Wallis' "God's Politics" and Jimmy Carter's "Our Endangered Values" are both excellent defenses of Liberalism. Personally I believe politics usually boils down to money and a good economics textbook
is a requirement for being to traverse politics. Any used Econ 101 texts will do. I also feel that at least the first volume of "Das Kapital" is an absolute necessity. I read a lot of works on the that expose the neocon myths by Chalmers Johnson,Naomi Klein, and Stephen Kohl- but knowing how bad things really are doesn't necessarily provide us with a forward direction-but it does fuel some anger and motivation.

Oh, I almost forgot the best. Howard Zinn, A Peoples History of the United States." and the "Zinn Reader". Happy reading.

[Greyhound]

9. Seconded. Excellent suggestions. n/t

[Octafish]

10. Michael Parenti and James Douglass

Parenti's home page links to a lot of his work.

JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters

[WinkyDink]

11. Fiction or non-fiction?

[Perfect Ten]

12. Preferably non-fiction...

I'm really leaning towards Zinn's A People's History of the United States...one motive I have other than gaining knowledge is finding a book to help me develop counter-arguments to my ultra-conservative parents. I live in central VA where it is not uncommon to see these bumper stickers that state: "Have you prayed for a liberal today?"

http://lc.org/media/9980/adopt_a_liberal.htm

Needless to say it is not easy to find help around here on liberal literature.

[bluetrain]

13. Nelson Algren

[w8liftinglady]

14. Howard Zinn, A Peoples History of the United States.-accompanied me to brain surgery

...and is an excellent book to return to...and return to.
It is extremely well-resourced.

[w8liftinglady]

15. p.s....I rec'd this thread..it's a good resource for reading.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[w8liftinglady]

18. Not true...Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine'...another required reading

[bluetrain]

19. one book, awesome...

[Perfect Ten]

20. Yeah, I saw your thread...

I just want to read a book.

[bluetrain]

21. Thumbs up, man! Just read a book, don't bother to care about your sistren, awesome!

[Perfect Ten]

22. Wow

I read your thread, I DO care, but I wanted some help finding a book. SO yes, I have not dedicated my entire morning to your thread. Sorry.

[bluetrain]

24. Your entire morning? What exactly have you dedicated to the cause?